In a section of “Handbuch der Printmedien” (Handbook of Print Media) by Helmut Kipphan, Springer Verlag, 2000, that deals with material and data flow, a dual-stream delivery system, depicted in FIGS. 8.1-11 (chapter 8.1), is described as a “highly automated variant of a non-stop delivery system”. Dual-stream delivery systems are also described as being usable as “waste diverters” for removing defective or misprinted sheets.
JP 25 17276 B2 discloses a delivery device having two delivery stations, with a guide element being provided between the first and second delivery stations. A stop that can be pivoted into and out of the transport path is provided in the end region.
DE 10 2008 006528 A1 discloses a mechanism for ejecting sheets, in which a sheet to be ejected can be channeled downward out of a guide plane that has blower air openings and is located upstream of the main pile. For this purpose, in one embodiment, a separating rake, which otherwise acts as a continuation of the guide surface, is pivoted into the transport path to channel the sheet downward out of the guide plane onto an auxiliary pile. A guide element adjacent to the diversion point is equipped with blower air openings.
DE 10329833 A1 similarly discloses a sheet guiding device that has an element that can be pivoted downward in order to feed sheets to be discharged as waste sheets onto a waste pile. The sheets are transported by means of grippers, which are opened at the delivery point by means of contact with an opening cam. The cam, which is provided above the waste pile, can be pivoted into and out of the transport path of the gripper opening mechanism. Also provided above the waste pile is a blower system, which acts on the top side of the sheets. A guide surface that adjoins the pivotable part of the guide plane, can be operated with positive or negative pressure by means of a fan.
A brochure detailing the “Rapida 106”, which is available on the home page of Koenig & Bauer AG at https://www.kba.com/fileadmin/user_upload/01_Sheetfed/01_Produkte/PDF_Downloads/Ra_106/Rapida_106_d_web.pdf, shows on pages 26 and 27 a delivery system in which a dynamic sheet brake and a Venturi sheet guiding system are used.
DE 10 2012 206929 A1 discloses a sheet brake with a suction belt, which brakes sheets by deceleration of the belt. Once the gripper has opened, the speed is decreased from the gripper carriage speed to a deposition speed. The cam for opening the gripper is displaceable. The drives for the brake elements and for adjusting the gripper cam can be implemented via the press controller.
DE 10 2009 027633 A1 discloses a blower air device having at least one blower air bar extending in the transport direction and having fan elements. The blower air bar can be used to selectively influence the blowing action in the middle region of the incoming sheets. Blower air is preferably applied synchronized with the working cycle of the sheets coming from the printing press.
EP 1958906 A2 relates to a sheet guiding mechanism in a pile delivery system comprising two delivery stations. A blower system comprising a plurality of fans is assigned to the first delivery station. For the operating mode in which a sheet will be guided onto the second pile, the fans on the suction side are covered by the insertion of a shielding plate. The deposition of the sheets in the delivery station is controlled by means of a gripper opening cam, which can be moved into or out of the movement path of the gripper opening mechanism.
DE 10 2008 020533 A1 discloses a blower air device located above a stacking chute of a sheet delivery. Adjustable baffle surfaces of an air guide device can be used to deflect the blower air away from the sheet transport path or to aim the blower air toward the sheet. During operation, the air guide device is positioned by means of a control unit in synchronism with the sequence of sheets such that in front of the sheet leading edge in the transport direction, the guide device is in the closed position, and behind of the sheet leading edge, the guide device is in the open position, that is to say air can pass through it.
DE 69307840 T2 discloses a delivery system having a delivery station and a switching unit that effects release and includes a switching cam and a cam follower, which is functionally assigned to a holding element. To adjust the release point, the switching cam is disposed on a base plate, which is mounted so as to move in the transport direction in relation to the press frame. To activate and deactivate the sheet release mechanism, the switching cam is pivoted, via a type of toggle lever mechanism, about a pivot axis provided on the base plate.
DE 10354673 A1 discloses a delivery system for forming only one pile, in which the point of sheet release is determined by the point of first contact. When a switching cam is in the first position, sheets are released above the pile. When the switching cam is in the second position, in which first contact occurs later, sheets that are designated for test sheet removal are still guided past pile stops, and are not released until they reach a test sheet stop. The point of first contact is adjusted by pivoting the switching cam by means of a drive means embodied as a pneumatic cylinder.
DE 10 2006 017461 A1 discloses guide devices, embodied as blower air modules, for guiding sheets that are transported by drums. Said blower air modules are equipped with blower nozzles embodied as Venturi nozzles, in addition to nozzles of different configurations. A pneumatic sheet guiding device is known from DE 19631598 C2.
DD 133654 B1 relates to a method and a device for the accelerated deposition of sheet-type materials. In that case, air is blown onto the sheets in two phases via transverse and longitudinal blower bars, and in the first phase, a plurality of transverse blower bars arranged one behind the other are switched on and off in succession.
DE 10 2004 007599 A1 relates to a sheet-processing machine having a sheet decurler. The sheets are pulled over a decurling notch that is pressurized by negative pressure. The decurling notch is formed by a guide section that extends first curved downward and immediately thereafter curved back upward.
DE 19733692 A1 discloses a sheet delivery of a printing press in which various embodiments of suction gaps and/or suction openings can be provided for smoothing the sheets. The suction gap provided in the guide path in that case comprises rounded edges.
DE 3130945 A1 discloses a device for removing printed products being conveyed by means of a conveyor from a conveyor stream, wherein to remove a printed product, two stops are introduced into the conveyor path. The stops can be introduced and retracted by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic drive.
JP 2001199612 A discloses a device for ejecting defective printed products, while DE 19905263 C1 discloses a device for product sampling.
DE 2820877 A1 and DE 3717736 A1 each relate to a loading device for at least one processing machine. By means of these devices, sheets of paper arranged in a shingled stream are fed on a conveyor line via respective diverters to the processing machines downstream. The conveyor sections and diverters are in the form of conveyor belts, which can be coupled to a central drive motor.
JP 2012-35978 A and JP 2001-199612 A disclose delivery devices that are equipped with a system for sorting out defective copies.
DE 19620938 A1 and the parallel U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,287 disclose a device and a method for depositing printed sheets onto a pile without smearing, which is achieved by detecting the position of the revolving suction belt and that of the drive, thereby enabling smear-free operation. In one operating mode of the device, the sheets to be deposited on the pile are decelerated to a deposition speed by an activated suction device. In another possible operating mode, in which sheets are to be removed as test sheets rather than being deposited onto the pile, the deceleration of these sheets by the suction device can be suspended, so that the sheets are not braked, and are instead conveyed beyond the pile and the pivoted-away stops.
DE 19935665 A1 relates to a device for stacking flat goods, in particular sheet metal panels, on a plurality of piles. The panels are held and conveyed above the deliveries by revolving suction systems, the advance of which can be decelerated to a deposition speed when a panel is to be deposited onto one of the piles.
DE 10 2004 011114 A1 relates to a stacking device with an electric unloading device.
One embodiment of DE 19819490C1 relates to the type of delivery system in question here having two pile deliveries. During operation, a sheet is decelerated by a format-adjustable braking system with an adjustable jalousie mechanism, and is deposited onto the first delivery pile. In the embodiment having two pile deliveries, the two pile deliveries are filled alternatingly for a non-stop pile change.
DE 10110864 A1 discloses a printing press in which a viewing window with integrated control and/or display elements is provided on the sheet delivery, allowing the discharge process to be viewed. This is intended to allow the deposition and stacking process to be observed, while at the same time enabling the printing press, e.g. color balance/color zone setting, to be adjusted. If the printing press has two paper piles in the delivery area or allows a removal of test sheets, stricter evaluation criteria, e.g. color balance/color zone setting, can also be evaluated easily through the viewing window.
US 2011/0132218 A1 discloses a printing press that has an optical sensor system for measuring a quality criterion in at least a last printing unit. The results are forwarded to a control unit, where they are compared with predefined values, and are adjusted appropriately, where necessary.
DE 10 2009 018477 A1 discloses a printing press having a feeder, printing units, and a delivery, wherein a camera is provided at the feeder, between the printing units, and at the delivery. The image data are stored in a memory of a control computer and can be viewed on a touch screen or on a large screen on the control console. These image data can also be viewed on additional screens, e.g. at the delivery.
DE 10 2014 224895 A1 relates to a delivery of a sheet-fed processing machine, having at least one detection unit for detecting the angular position of the leading edge of a sheet. In one embodiment, this angular position can be detected in relation to the leading-edge stops. For this purpose, the detection unit can comprise a camera, in particular a CCD camera.
DE 19819490 C1 relates in its embodiments to a delivery system of the type in question having two pile deliveries. During operation, a sheet is decelerated by means of a format-adjustable braking system with an entrainable shutter system, and is deposited onto the first delivery pile. In the embodiment having two pile deliveries, the two pile deliveries are filled alternatingly for a non-stop pile change.
WO 2009/044688 A1 discloses a dual-pile delivery, in which a suction roller system for decelerating the sheets is provided in the guide path upstream of the first stacking space downstream. The first stacking space is followed by a sheet guide plate, via which the sheets can be transferred downstream to the second stacking space.
DE 3413179 A1 discloses a control and regulating system for a sheet delivery, in which optimal adjustments are to be made, e.g. dependent upon the press speed, to variables that relate to the sheets themselves, to the speed, location, and negative pressure of suction wheels, to the intensity and location of blower systems, and to the size, sheet format size, and sheet weight. This is accomplished by means of a family of characteristic values determined empirically for each operating condition. For example, when the machine is running slowly, the peripheral speed of the suction wheels corresponds approximately to the speed of the delivery chain, whereas when the machine is running at a high speed, the peripheral speed for the purpose of deceleration should be relatively low. The suction wheel speed can be regulated via a drive motor that drives the suction wheels. It is specified that this can also be carried out according to interrelationships that do not follow the press speed proportionally, and instead change the suction wheel speed during the passage of each individual sheet, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,071 A discloses blower air openings in guidance sections that lead to a pile delivery of a sheet-fed printing press.